ARRtist on AIR - Meaningful conversations with Software & AI leaders 264: Customer-Funded SaaS: How Omnisend Scaled to $55M ARR Without VCs
What does it take to build a $55M ARR SaaS company without VC backing? In this episode of ARRtist on AIR, Julius sits down with Rytis Lauris, Co-Founder & CEO of Omnisend, a marketing automation platform powering 150,000+ e-commerce brands worldwide. We dive deep into Omnisend’s journey from bootstrapping to becoming a global player, why Rytis believes in being customer-funded instead of investor-funded, and how embedding customer centricity and AI across the company became Omnisend’s growth engine. This episode is packed with insights on capital efficiency, product strategy, customer-centric culture, and the future of distribution.
Key Learning: Customer-funded SaaS forces focus Omnisend avoided institutional VC funding, relying on monthly prepayments. This kept discipline high, burn low, and creativity alive.
No lock-in, ever Customers can cancel anytime. This model forces the team to re-earn customer trust every 30 days by delivering constant value.
Customer interviews are mandatory across roles Even CFOs and designers must speak directly with customers monthly. Compliance is tracked via dashboards – embedding customer centricity into culture.
Beware of data-only decision-making
Rytis shared how they once relied too much on dashboards. Talking to customers revealed that some “unused” features were essential but poorly implemented.
AI adoption starts internally Omnisend declared an “AI-first mindset,” holding AI Days where employees re-engineer tasks with AI. Only after internal adoption did they roll out AI features for customers.
AI features solve complexity for users Instead of forcing logical formulas, users can now prompt Omnisend’s AI to build customer segments or automations – saving time and reducing friction.
Distribution is shifting, but not everything changes Rytis believes LLMs will disrupt search as Google once did, but channels like email, reviews, and app stores will remain critical pillars for SaaS GTM.
Our Guests: Rytis Lauris https://www.linkedin.com/in/rytisl/
Our Host: Julius Göllner https://www.linkedin.com/in/julius-goellner/
**Unser Werbepartner: **
Morefire https://www.linkedin.com/company/morefire/about/ https://www.more-fire.com/
Restaurant: Nineteen18 Lithuania Link: https://nineteen18.lt/en/